Discovering the Legend: 1-5 Final
by RoseDragonWitch
Summary: After years of waiting, the ending for the "Discovering the Legend", characters reading the Harry Potter series is finally here. For those of you who are old fans, I certainly hope that it was worth the wait!
1. Prologue: The Ending in Sight

**Hello, welcome to what will be rounding off the finale of the Discovering the Legend series. For those of you who don't know, the Discovering the Legend series covered the first four Harry Potter books and had reached through several of the chapters in the Order of the Phoenix book. After reading the chapter where Sirius falls through the veil, the Order wonder if it was some kind of lie, since Sirius was clearly not dead. But that was when they got the message from Snape that Harry was gone, that he had a fake vision from Voldemort and believed that Sirius was at the Ministry.**

 **Terrified of what may be his future, Remus begged that Sirius stay behind, but Sirius knew what may happen to him, but was determined to go there and protect Harry. We will first be seeing the aftermath of what happened at the Ministry, mostly from Dumbledore's point of view.**

 **Prologue: The Ending in Sight**

This was _his_ fault.

 _"_ _Come on," Sirius laughed out, his voice echoing around the cavernous room, "you can do better than that!"_

Why was it always his fault? Why didn't he ever learn his lesson and see the harm he was causing? Why did he do it? Why did he keep this quiet from Harry? Why didn't he warn him of what could happen?

 _The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest._ _The laughter had not quite died from his face, when he was struck with a spell in his chest, but his eyes widened in shock. Blood splattered the floor around him as he was knocked backwards._

If he'd told Harry what Lord Voldemort could do, if he told him to expect Voldemort to try and lure him into the Department of Mysteries, then none of this ever would have happened.

The worst was hearing that cry…

 _"_ _SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"_

That cry had been as a knife to his heart when he heard it. To his horror, he had seen Harry running down the stairs and towards the dias before Remus charged in and grabbed him around the chest to pull him back from Bellatrix, who was laughing with triumph.

 _"_ _There's nothing you can do, Harry -" Remus gasped as he held him back._

 _"_ _Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!" Harry cried out, refusing to believe it._

 _"_ _\- it's too late, Harry."_

 _"_ _We can still reach him -" Harry had cried as he struggled hard and viciously, but Remus would not let go…_

 _"_ _There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… he's gone."_

That was hours ago and right now Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office. The only sound came from the soft chirps from the baby Fawkes who was nestled in his pile of ashes. But he cried softly to his owner, who was sitting grimly at his desk, having not moved a muscle for some time.

The sun was already up and high, showing just how much time had passed since Harry left his office, but Albus remained where he was. He leaned over in his seat, occasionally adding memories to the Pensieve that sat in front of him before he would become lost in his thoughts once more.

It wasn't long before the flock of owls started to arrive him; but Albus just couldn't seem to muster up the energy to answer them. He remained in a kind of stupor for a long time until, finally, he heard another knock on the door and looked up in time to see two people walk in. Severus was there along with Alastor Moody—who was sporting large bruises and was holding up a pack of ice up against his head.

He had apparently left St. Mungo's on his own terms, or caring about any time spent trying to recover.

This wasn't anything new, Albus knew that Alastor had been coming and going from the wizarding hospital so many times over the years that they all knew him there. In fact, he even heard jokes being made that they had a special room set up just for him whenever he was dragged in.

"Alastor," he said tiredly as he sat up when he entered. "How are you?"

He had been concerned when he learned that Alastor had been attacked by Dolohov at the Ministry.

"Fine, fine," his old friend barked at him sourly as he kept the ice pack over the back of his head to where it had been healed, but still clearly sensitive. "Damn old age. Skills aren't what they used to be. Dolohov had it in for me during the First War, no surprise he tried to kill me."

"You sure you're feeling alright to leave St. Mungo's?" Albus asked in concern as he offered a chair for him, but Alastor insisted on standing.

"I'll live," he barked in annoyance. "It was that pain in the arse Nymphadora you should be concerned with."

"How is she doing?" he asked instead, knowing that despite how often he complained about her, he knew that Alastor still cared deeply about young Nymphadora Tonks. And despite how causal he was acting right now, it was clear that he wanted him to ask how she was doing. "She was hurt by Bellatrix?"

"Aye, got hit hard," he nodded. "She'll live with no serious side-effects, according to the Healers. Should be out of the hospital sometime this week. More than I can say… for some."

Albus sighed as he leaned back grimly in his chair.

Severus, who had remained silent up until that moment, was looking around the partially destroyed office and at the remains of the instruments that had been shattered and lay twinkling on the floor.

"I'm assuming that Potter was here?" he asked knowingly.

Albus merely nodded before looking back down into the bowl of swirling memories.

"I'm guessing that he did this?" Severus asked silkily.

"Correct," Albus answered, his voice hoarse from not using it for a while.

"Looks like someone lost his temper with you," Alastor added as he looked down at the broken pieces as well with interest. "Well, it was only going to be a matter of time. I'd like to say I told you so but…?"

"There is no need, I know," Albus sighed before he pulled out his wand and, barely paying attention to anything else around him, he waved it once, causing the broken instruments to repair themselves and fly back to their usual places.

"Where's the boy now?" Alastor asked as he watched a lunascope jump back up onto the newly repaired table.

"He left earlier," Albus sighed. "Probably heading down to the Hospital Wing to check on his friends."

He glanced up at the portrait of Dilys, who nodded at the silent question, having been keeping an eye on the students who were brought in.

"The Longbottom boy will be staying until tomorrow," she informed them. "Poor thing had been tortured and Madam Pomfrey insisted on it. Lovegood suffered a concussion so she's sleeping it off, and the Weasley girl has already been released. She got off lucky with just a broken ankle."

"Good," Albus said, truly grateful for that. "And Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger?"

"May be there for a while," she answered back. "They received the worst of it. Nothing that Madam Pomfrey can't cure though. They should be out before the school year ends."

"Glad to hear it," Albus nodded before looking to Severus and asked, "And what does Voldemort think of all this?"

Severus was quiet for a moment before he sighed.

"The Dark Lord is angry," he said softly. "Angry that the Wizarding World is now fully aware that he has returned. But more than anything he is furious that the prophecy had been smashed and no one heard what it said."

"Good riddance if you ask me," Alastor stated as he limped over to the desk and pulled out his wand to conjurer up a glass of water. He pulled his magical eye out of his head, which Albus saw still had blood smeared on it, before dropping it with a plunking sound. "Now we don't need to worry about him getting his pasty white hands on it. Normally, I'd say that it all worked out… but…?"

What else happened that night hung in the air, leaving it suddenly feeling colder than ever before. Albus didn't look up at him as he kept his eyes focused on his pensieve, knowing what they were talking about.

"Is it true?" Severus asked softly. "Is Black truly dead?"

The careful mask that Severus worked so hard to keep did not slip so it was impossible to tell how he felt about any of this.

"I… don't know," Albus confessed. "Everyone seemed to think so because of the book but…?"

"Not how it happened in the book though," Alastor informed them. "Apparently he fell through the veil because he was too busy taunting Bellatrix. He was serious this time around but he was still struck by a curse. Who can say if he'll live or not?"

"So he is still alive?" Albus asked quietly, still not looking up.

"For now," Alastor admitted gruffly. "Had a hole blown right through him by that mad cousin of his. If he had been standing a hair to the right when he fell back, he would have gone through that veil. However, his arm came in contact with that blasted curtain."

Albus frowned at that, knowing what it meant.

There was still much that the Department of Mysteries did not know about the Veil. It was a manifestation of the barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Usually when one fell through it, it was a one-way trip. It is impossible for others to pull whoever passes through out without passing through and dying themselves, and it was already too late for those passing through to be saved, as they were already dead. In the past a curious, if not fool-hardy Unspeakable had wondered what would happen if he stuck just a limb through the veil, while the rest of him remained in the living world.

That man had lost his leg in the process.

"Sirius has lost his arm?" he asked grimly at that.

"Aye," Alastor answered. "That, added to the hole in his chest that Bellatrix gave him, he lost most of his blood. It's a wonder that he didn't die immediately. Don't know what's gonna happen next to him. But it doesn't look hopeful. Most have already written him off as a goner. But I guess we managed to give him a fighting chance, no matter how slim. What I want to know is how did that book predict this?"

"Apparently," Severus explained, "There is a chapter in that last book that foretold everything that happened in the last day or so. How is that even possible? How could a book be able to predict everything that happened? When I contacted them at Grimmauld Place, they weren't surprised to hear that Potter and his little friends went to the Ministry."

"That's what I've been wondering about," Alastor said, and to Albus's surprise, he pulled out the fifth book that they had all been reading for the last couple of weeks from a bag that he wore at his side.

"I went back to Grimmauld Place to grab it," he answered as he set it on the desk next to the glass that contained his magical eye. "Wanted to make sure that we didn't leave that lying around. I made sure to toss the first four books into the fire on my way here."

"You destroyed them?" Albus asked in surprise.

"Can't risk anyone getting their hands on them," he said in annoyance. "Besides, we already read them. This one… however…?"

They all looked at the blue cover once again.

"It told us everything that happened while it was happening," Alastor said to him. "If we had read it a little faster and got to actually reading the book without so many darned interruptions, we might have learned what was going to happen before it did."

"It would appear so," Albus said softly as he traced his fingers over the hardback cover and lost himself in his darkening thoughts once more. So deep were his thoughts that he didn't even realize that Severus and Alastor were arguing with each other… at least at first.

"Don't you blame me for this," Severus hissed at Alastor. "It's the boy who jumped to the conclusion that he had to go and save his godfather, who obviously can't save himself."

"And who was the one who stopped giving him Occulmency lessons even though he knew full well what could happen?" Alastor asked with his gash of a mouth curling into a smile. Severus flushed at this and looked sharply away.

"It seems clear to me that it was useless to try and teach Potter," he snarled back.

"Enough, the both of you," Albus said wearily, wishing that they would leave and just leave him alone for the moment. He did not wish to see anyone right now, instead he was wishing for some peace and quiet before he would be forced to meet with Fudge later on.

He rubbed his tired eyes before he looked up, trying to put his mind to work as he asked Severus, "What else is happening inside the school, right now?"

"Everything has quieted down," Severus answered silkily. "Umbridge is missing right now, I'm looking into what might have happened to her, but I think she may be lost inside the forest."

"Can we just leave her in there?" Alastor asked lightly. "It's not like anyone would miss her or anything."

Albus had to fight the impulse to laugh. Unfortunately, he also knew that it could cause them problems from the Ministry if something had happened to her… though he did feel a surge of eagerness to let Umbridge pay for all the harm she had brought to his students over this last year.

"I shall go out and look for her," he promised as he ran an exhausted hand over his old face. "I suspect we should be expecting officials from the Ministry here soon enough—perhaps even Fudge himself. Keep an eye out for them if they do arrive, Severus. If they ask where I am, inform them that I will be bringing Umbridge back to the castle, but I expect her to be removed as soon as possible."

Severus nodded as Albus added, "Has Hagrid returned yet? And Minerva? How is she?"

He still felt a surge of anger inside him when he had learned what happened to the two of them while he had been away from the castle, and hoped that they would be back as soon as possible. Hogwarts needed them and it wasn't the same without them there.

"I sent word to Hagrid as per your orders," Severus answered with a nod. "And I learned where he's been getting all those injuries all year as well. Apparently, he brought home one of the giants and had been keeping him in the forest."

Albus and Alastor both looked up at him in amazement.

"What?" Alastor demanded. "Is he barking mad? He's finally lost it."

"From what he said, apparently it's his younger… half-brother," Severus informed them both. "And he was worried about him, so he brought him back when he returned from meeting with the giants last summer."

It took a few moments for this news to wash over Albus who blinked and wondered if he was just dreaming right now. This was a little too much to take in.

"And where is this… brother of his?" he asked, still trying to grasp what he just learned.

"In the forest," Severus answered before going on in a tone that clearly suggested that he was wondering if they would think he was making this up. "And Hagrid had been trying to keep him tied up while he was trying to teach him… English."

Albus wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at this. Alastor compromised by swearing at the top of his lungs at what he really thought of Hagrid doing something so insane.

"This explains much," Albus said once Alastor paused to take a breath. "I had been concerned for Hagrid with his many injuries and why he was so late in returning to the castle. But, now that we know, I think that it would be best that we move our new—guest from the forest. I believe that he may be feeling a little more comfortable up in the mountain areas instead."

"What? You're gonna let him keep him?" Alastor barked, much like how someone would criticize him for allowing a wayward child to keep a pet that followed him home.

"Well, I'm afraid it's not like we can send him back where he came from at this point," Albus said, making a note to have a word with Hagrid about this matter when he next saw him. He could understand why Hagrid felt the need to bring him here, but keeping him tied up in the forest wasn't going to be helping anyone.

"I'll take care of this," he promised with Alastor raised his eyebrows at him. "And Minerva? Have you learned of how she is doing?"

"She's still in St. Mungo's," Alastor answered instead. "She might be there for the rest of the school year. But she's a tough, old girl. She won't die that easily."

"I see," he nodded, a little surprised, but glad to hear that she was doing much better. He dismissed Severus, promising to go and search for the forest for Umbridge. Alastor decided to stick around here in case any officials showed up while he was away, just so that he could yell at them for being such idiots.

Albus left everything in their hands before he went wandering off, heading straight for the stairs. Already news had gotten out about how Umbridge was now sacked and that he had returned as the Headmaster. He passed by the students, who were going over the newspapers that were probably already telling the world everything that happened at the Ministry last night.

As soon as they saw him, they gasped and quickly began talking to their friends that he was back and that the news must be true. More than a few students let out cries of joy at the thought of Umbridge no longer being Headmistress.

It was startling how much could change for someone in just one night.

Albus did his best not to think about that and how that how much had happened. He barely paid any attention to what was happening around him as he strode towards the front doors. He soon found himself wandering across the grounds, heading straight towards the forest. The bright, sunny sky with hardly a cloud and the warm breeze seemed to mock how he was feeling however.

He couldn't get that image out of his mind. The expression on Harry's face when he revealed to him the truth of the prophecy. The betrayal in those green eyes would haunt him for his remaining days…

He strode into the Forbidden Forest, glad for a chance to get his mind cleared of everything that happened in the last 24 hours. Walking through the trees, noting how quiet they seemed at this time, going deeper and deeper until he eventually came onto a clearing where he saw Umbridge huddled by a tree shivering and scared but seemingly unharmed in her horrid pink robes.

She seemed to be alone.

As soon as he took a step towards her however, he immediately heard the sound of hooves approaching, he stopped as a shadowy shape appeared on the path in front of him – a horses' body with a man's torso. He stepped forward, and at once the dark form of the centaur named Bane appeared from the shadows… glaring at him and stomping his hooves in rage.

"Good afternoon, Bane," he responded respectfully. The other centaurs behind Bane all came from the shade of the trees as well and observed him as one would when something interesting was on display. Bane on the other hand glared fiercely at him—as if daring him to make the wrong move.

"What are you doing here, human?" Bane snarled at him.

Albus, who had taken his wand out and lit it to find his way through the dark forest, put it back into his pocket as he held up his hands to show that he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"Bane I did not come here for a fight, as you obviously seem ready for," Albus responded politely and quietly, showing them that he had no means to fight or defend himself. "I merely came to bring Dolores Umbridge out of your forest before anyone else gets hurt."

"You will not, human. She is to be punished for what she dared to do," Bane responded, pawing the ground in an irritated way. "She dared to threaten us with her wand. And that's not counting the horrid insults she used!"

Albus nodded and said, "Yes, I am sure she did. But with your permission, I will take her with me and out of your forest. I assure you that she won't be able to insult you any longer should you allow me to do so."

"And let her escape punishment?" Ronan asked, coming from behind Bane.

"Greetings to you as well, Ronan. However, I must inform you that she is from the Ministry," Albus replied, keeping his voice light and friendly, knowing that arguing with them would only make things worse. He had to calmly explain that letting her go was in their better interest…

"Isn't it bad enough that you charmed that traitor Firenze into revealing our secrets to your students, but you want to order us what to do in our own home?" Bane barked suddenly.

Albus held his arms up once again as he calmly tried to explain, "I know that you were most against my offer to Firenze. But know that I did not mean to cause any harm to you or insult your herd. But times are becoming dark for us all, and it is my hope that by being able to stand by all magical creatures, we can stand against the encroaching darkness. If you doubt anything else, know that Firenze simply wishes for peace. That has not changed."

The centaurs all continued looking at him, as if wondering if he was speaking the truth or not.

"I take it you are not going to leave here without her?" Bane demanded while he threw a look of loathing over at Umbridge, who was still huddled up into a tight ball at the foot of the tree.

"Believe me, I dislike her as much as all of you do," Albus informed them truthfully. "She has done nothing but torture my students all year. I would love nothing more than to see her pay for the cruelty that she has shown to others. Yet, I fear that it may cause unnecessary trouble for you all as well. The paperwork alone would be a nightmare and I'm afraid that I cannot guarantee that they leave you alone should any harm come to her."

He let them look at each other and silently think it all over. He could tell that they deeply wanted to punish her for whatever it was that she said or did to them. Yet, he also knew that centaurs were not cruel or evil creatures—preferred to be left alone. Despite what some like Umbridge would think… they were gentle and deep beings with a distain for needless violence. But with how they had been treated by humans in the past… he could not blame them for their frustration.

He waited there patiently as they quietly talked among themselves. Finally, after a few minutes of discussion, they seemed to decide that they would leave the matter to him.

"Very well," Ronan said deeply but very seriously as well. "We shall allow you to take her with you. On the condition that she will never be allowed to set foot in our forest again. The stars foretell that she will grow even crueler than she is right now."

"I pray not," Albus answered with a polite bow. "But I swear, as long as I am alive, she will not set foot in here or bother any of you ever again. Thank you all for your kindness."

One by one, the centaurs left him, retreating back into the cover of the trees. Bane staying a fragment of a second longer as he gave him a sharp look—before he left with a swish of his tail. Albus waited until he was sure that they had left before he walked over and pulled Umbridge up. He then forced her to walk with him; and without another look back, they went through the forest and back in the direction of the castle.

"H-h-halfbreeds," she stuttered out once she realized that he was here, and she began shaking from head to foot as she glared at him. "Handled b-by such b-b-beasts! And you had some nerve to c-come back here! Y-you will be arrested as soon as I contact the Ministry!"

"Those halfbreeds spared you," Albus said coldly, refusing to look at her. "That is what we call mercy. None of that would have happened anyway if you hadn't been so foolish to insult them in the first place. And I am here to inform you that I have just been pardoned and now I'm now allowed to return to the castle as Headmaster."

"Preposterous!" she cried out, refusing to believe any of that.

"You will soon see," he answered harshly. "I will allow you to rest up in the Hospital Wing. But once you have recovered, you will leave. You are no longer Headmistress, High Inquisitor, or even the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Not that my students have learned anything from you this year. Your degrees have already been removed and yes, you are fired.

She glared at him, but perhaps she feared that he would leave her behind if she argued and she stayed surprisingly silent. He led her out of the forest, supporting her as he took her up to the Hospital Wing, and left her in Madam Pomfrey's care. Harry was there already with his five friends. They didn't notice him at first, but he didn't stay long enough for them to realize he was there. Luna was sitting up in bed with a turban of bandages around her head, but she was already reading the latest issue of The Quibbler. Neville was pale, but looked whole and heathy just like Ginny Weasley, whose ankle had already been taken care of.

As for Harry, his back was to the door as he watched over his two best friends, who were both sleeping.

Perhaps it was cowardliness, but Albus did not want to stay. He had also guessed that he may be the last person that Harry may wish to see at the moment; so once he passed Umbridge over to Madam Pomfrey, he returned back to his office.

Alastor was still there, and he was flipping through the book when he entered the room. When Albus asked him if he would rather have something else to do, he was given a surprising answer. Alastor was very interested as he turned the pages to the last chapter they had read before receiving the message from Severus to go to the Ministry.

"Quite impressive they were," he admitted as he turned the page. "A bit inexperienced, but six teenagers didn't do half a bad job against a dozen odd Death Eaters. They were able to hold their own until we showed up anyway and none of them were killed. You should read that chapter when you get the chance."

"Why are you going through that now?" Albus asked tiredly as he began looking at some of the countless letters from the Ministry that were already piled up on his desk. He was determined to do whatever it took to avoid Alastor's gaze—so much so that he was willing to stoop to looking through mail. But he was also burning with curiosity at what else the book had to say as well.

"There's only three more chapters left," Alastor said as he skimmed ahead. "You think that they hold more information?"

Albus did not answer as he thought that all over. Truthfully, he feared what they would read next.

"I'm not above finding out," Alastor said as he took a seat at last and turned the page to the next chapter. "Interesting," he added when he saw the black-and-white image to see Dumbledore standing there with his wand drawn, facing off against the black robed figure he knew to be Voldemort. He, too, had his wand drawn, and was even holding up a large shield as he battled with the old man.

And it was a sign of just how interested he was in this information that he was reading it out loud to him. the same man who had refused to read almost any of the chapters the entire time that they went over them.

 **"Chapter Thirty: The Only One He Ever Feared,"** he read out, as if curious to see how Dumbledore would respond to it.


	2. The End of One Story: Beginning of a New

**For crying out loud! I'm not trying to cause trouble or anything! There are just periods of time in my life where I sink into a deep depression and I found that writing helps me deal with suicidal thoughts and feelings. I just wanted to write a story that others could enjoy. So for those of you out there who are sending me all those nasty reviews that I should have my account deleted, that I'm a terrible rotten person, sorry for taking the time out of my day to work on something that I just wanted others to enjoy! If you have such a problem with it, why bother reading it? If it makes you all feel better I finished the epilogue, it's the ending that I had always planned out for this series and it's the last time I'll ever attempt to go back to the discovering the legend. Alright? So for those of you who have nothing better to do with your free time than telling me off, please don't say anything.**

 **You want to yell and call me a terrible, despicable person, fine. If you want to make people over the web feel even worse about themselves than they already feel, than I hope it makes you feel better about yourselves. I was asked to do this by a friend who had been going through some rough times too and I wanted to do something to cheer her up and give her a nice surprise. It's already hurtful enough without feeling the need to cry when I see these reviews telling me that I'm a 'despicable person' and I should 'rot already'. I never meant to cause trouble. It's just that there are other stories that are still up that have a few chapters of the 'reading the stories' and they end after four or five chapters and I thought that I could at least have just a couple chapters up so that I could let everyone know how it ended. I'm sorry I even had the idea now.**

 **Quick summary of what happens. After finishing reading the last three chapters of the book, Albus is unsure of what to do. When they reached the Last Prophecy chapter, Alastor put the book aside when it reached the prophecy part. His reasoning for it was because the last people who knew about it the better and he doesn't know what it says. So that part of the story mostly has the dialogue going on inside Dumbledore's head.**

 **Once that part is over, he gives the book back to Moody, who finishes up the last chapter, skipping over several parts where it talks about the prophecy once again. Once the final chapter is finished, they decide that it's for Harry's safety to destroy this last book and so they toss it into the fireplace and watch it burn. But that was when they get a very interesting news…?**

 **Epilogue: The End of One Story… Beginning of Another**

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked as he got up from his seat at the desk and stared up at Phineas, who actually seemed to be trying to repress a grin.

"Overheard that werewolf talking about it in Grimmauld Place," he said, "It would appear that my great-great grandson is more stubborn than we first thought. Because he's still breathing."

"How bad is he?" Albus asked, hardly daring to believe it as he strolled around to look at the portrait.

"It's bad," Phineas answered. "They all thought for sure that he was finished, that's why they didn't tell you anything. He lost most of his blood, as well as his arm, but like I said, it looks like he was just too stubborn to die. He's over the worst of it, that's as much as anyone could hope for."

"Dumbledore," Dilys called from her portrait as she came running into frame and he looked at her as she finished, "I just finished visiting my other portrait at St. Mungo's when I heard. They just finished working on him. I overheard them talking about Sirius Black… he's definitely alive. But… I also overheard that Fudge may be coming… with a small army of Aurors."

"In other words, Fudge may be trying to win favors by trying to claim that Sirius is still a murderer," Albus nodded as Alastor groaned out at that idea.

"Really?" Alastor asked. "That idiot is going to muck things up for us again?"

"Not if I can help it," Albus said, already leaving his office. "I'll alert Severus to keep an eye on everything here."

"Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Harry's face when he learns that he still has a godfather," Everard laughed happily.

"Don't count your owls before they arrive," Alastor barked as he also got up, "Black's gotta make it through the rest of the day. If blood-lost doesn't do it, then the Ministry will finish the job."

"Which makes it all the more important that we go now," Albus said, refusing to let Cornelius get his way this time. He doubt that they would move Sirius from St. Mungo's if he was in critical state. But he knew that he had to do something to stop this from happening.

He and Alastor both left the school as soon as they could before arriving in the lobby of St. Mungo's. After speaking with Dilys, who had returned to the portrait in the hallway, who told them that Sirius was in a private ward, they went speeding off to the right floor.

It looked like they had gotten there just in time. For standing outside the room was Cornelius with at least half a dozen Aurors.

"STOP!" he commanded as he went striding up the hallway to see them there and the flustered Healer, who was trying to explain that they couldn't just go marching in here.

Cornelius jumped at the sight of him there and began giving demands that they were here to take Sirius back to Azkaban and soon the two of them had gotten into an argument in that hallway when Albus refused him to do so.

"That's because Sirius Black is innocent of the crimes that he committed," Albus told him firmly when Cornelius demanded to know why they shouldn't take a dangerous man back to prison. "He was there fighting with us last night at the Department of Mysteries against Voldemort's supporters."

"Dumbledore!" Cornelius said, sweating at the sight of seeing him here. "Why… are…? What are you talking…?"

"Why are you wasting your breath talking to him?" Alastor demanded as he limped by and began looking at the Aurors, who were all carefully avoiding his eyes… both of them. "I see now, you sorry excuses for Aurors are some of the ones who helped to make our lives very difficult all year. Well, I hope you're all satisfied in helping this idiot," he jerked his thumb over at Fudge, "Doom us all. I hope that trying to make him look good was worth compromising the safety of your families."

"Alastor," Albus scolded as the Auror's were looking horrified at the thought before Albus addressed them now, "Please, leave matters here to me. You escort Cornelius back to the Ministry. I have a feeling that he will be very busy there for the next few days…?"

"Assuming that he lasts that long," Alastor muttered under his breath.

Albus ignored him as he finished, "Please, I promise that I will take full responsibility over the matter of Sirius Black. He will not harm anyone here, and I promise you that he won't attempt to flee the country. I will make sure of that. If you wish to question him, then by all means, you may do so, but not until he has recovered, and certainly not without being granted a trial."

"Now wait just a second," Cornelius began, but the Auror's dark looks were enough to silence him, making it very clear whose side they were listening to. After Fudge had all but betrayed them all, Albus could not blame them, and he was glad to see that those actions were coming back to haunt him so quickly.

"Thank you," Albus told them gratefully. "Now if you would please put your wands away? You must beginning making preparations. We have a year of work and precautions to catch up on. I will offer you any aid that you will be needing. I will leave Alastor to speak with you."

Fudge could only stand there, slack-jawed as he watched his Auror's leave, doing what he had requested of them and Albus sighed in relief before turning his attention back to the soon to be ex-Minister of Magic.

"Cornelius," he asked, "just where did we go wrong with you? Do you not realize the damage you have done?"

"I did what I thought was best," he retorted briskly.

"Best for you," Alastor barked as he made his way past him, taking care to bring the Aurors with him. "If you excuse me, I got a damn fledgling Auror to go and make sure is still alive." He then paused and whispered in Cornelius's ear as he passed, "I'd be careful if I were you. He may not look it, but he's in a bad mood. Got done reading a very depressing book on his way here. Watch your words."

"And you think you can tell me what to do?" Cornelius demanded.

"Yes. It's because you're a bloody idiot," Alastor said darkly as he limped down the hall, leaving the two of them on their own once the Aurors left, though a couple of them did know that they had to protect the Minister even if they weren't happy about it. They stood guard at the end of the hall while the others left, though they were so far down that Albus doubted that they could hear what they were discussing.

"He pretends he doesn't care," Albus said fondly as he watched Alastor leave, "But he does have a big heart in there underneath that rough exterior." He sighed before he looked back to Cornelius and asked, "I heard that Sirius Black did survive the battle in the Department of Mysteries."

"What?" Cornelius jumped in surprise, "Ah… yes… thanks to the quick work of—er—your Order members, they brought him here in time. Everyone thought for sure he was… well, that's neither here nor there."

"No, it's not," Albus nodded slowly. "The question now is, what do you intend to do about it, Cornelius? If you are planning to have him thrown back into prison in a last ditch effort to try and save your title of Minister of Magic, I'm afraid I will have to object."

Cornelius jumped at this. Something that he had seen him do a lot in just the last 12 hours. He was extremely twitchy and seemed to be afraid of his own shadow.

"I am not here to pick another fight with you, Cornelius," Albus said firmly. "When I learned that Sirius survived, I came to see with my own eyes, as well as to check up on my Transfiguration teacher, whom, I was told was put into this very hospital because of Dolores Umbridge and the half dozen Aurors she brought with her to try and harm Hagrid in some way. I will inform you that she is recovering as well. Slowly, but recovering and hopefully Professor McGonagall will be back before the end of the year. But I am now here to ask that you release Sirius Black into my care when he is strong enough to leave. I will not allow you to send him back to Azkaban."

"Release him to your…?" Cornelius demanded, sounding like he couldn't believe his ears.

"I am not in the mood to repeat myself, Cornelius," Albus informed him. "You were wrong about everything else this past year. Don't you think that there is a high chance that you were wrong about Sirius Black being a murderer as well?"

"But all the evidence, Dumbledore…?" Cornelius demanded.

"Sirius Black wasn't even given a trial for him to prove his innocence," Albus reminded him, "You may be able to question him later when he has recovered if you insist. But until then, I will not allow him to return to that prison like a Death Eater. You can question him under the effects of Veritaserum if you will continue to doubt his words. I will even be able to show you his memories in a Pensieve as well if the Aurors demand. But until he is recovered enough to have that trial, I am afraid you must wait."

He then closed his eyes as he let the relief wash over him to have the proof that Sirius was, indeed, alive. Wherever that fifth book came from, he was truly grateful. For without it, they may have truly lost Sirius this day and the grief that Harry would be suffering with would have been immeasurable. Albus knew that he still had a lot to do to try and make amends for his mistakes, but he was going to start here by ensuring that Sirius would not go back to Azkaban.

Albus then opened his eyes as he added, "Of course, with so much happening, I don't think that you'll be too busy with Sirius at the moment."

Cornelius frowned at that before demanding, "Alright, so he's back! I should have listened to you from the start! Is that what you wanted me to say? The Ministry is in a right state. Rumors are already flying all over. They're spreading like wildfire, which is only giving us more chaos."

"I suggest you stop the rumors by telling them more of the truth then," Albus suggest quietly. "Unless you doubt what you saw early this morning?"

"I only did what I thought…?" he began but Albus was shaking his head.

"No, I know why you did it," Albus said firmly. "In your paranoia, you saw ghosts trying to overthrow you at every possible move. When you should have been accepting our hands for friendship, you have compromised the safety of countless people and may have possibly risked destroying our only chance of stopping Voldemort. Ever sense you sent…" he paused for a moment, having to refrain himself from calling her what he really thought of her, "Dolores Umbridge into my school, my students have suffered greatly. The school was thrown into little more than a prison and now the entire country is in an uproar. Hogwarts is supposed to be a school, not a training ground for you to try and brainwash children into serving the Ministry without a single thought in their heads."

"I felt that I had to do it!" Cornelius said, "You and Potter would have caused nothing but panic! Can you not see that this was the better option?"

"Better?" Albus asked, anger boiling inside him, "If you had seen the damage that she has done to my students, you wouldn't be feeling that way. And as for causing panic, I wished to have the Wizarding World ready and prepared when Voldemort came out into the open, which he was bound to do sooner or later. All that time that we could have had to have families learn how to protect themselves, even have a chance to get out of Britain if it was possible… now all gone because they didn't know that they were in danger."

"I could have sworn that you wanted my position by simply stirring up trouble! Especially when I learned that you were keeping facts about Harry Potter secret?!" Cornelius tried to justify.

"If I had wanted the job, I would have taken it when it was first offered to me. I willingly chose to live a life that I fell fulfilled," Albus answered him. "I cannot bring myself to leave Hogwarts because I choose to believe in passing our knowledge onto the next generation. As for Harry, what he is capable of doing or not is none of the government's concern. I warned you again and again what would happen if you refused to take responsibility and do your job."

"I did my job!" Cornelius yelled.

"You are blaming me for everything," Albus said slowly and clearly. "I admit that I am guilty for a lot of things, but I never forced you to keep all this secret from the public. Quite the opposite. And now look at what happened? Ten Death Eaters and Voldemort himself showing up at the Ministry last night! Right under your nose!"

"Why were they even in the Department of Mysteries?!" Cornelius gasped out desperately. "What was there that they would want so badly?"

Albus did not answer that question.

"I assume that you know what's going on?" Cornelius asked. "And you have discussed these matters with Harry Potter?"

Well, once again, that's not really their business now is it? Yet, in light of all that was going on, was it really worth opening hostilities so early?

"Yes," he said at last, but taking care not to give him any real information, "We discussed it. However, this has less than nothing to do with you, Cornelius."

"Albus, listen, we might still be able to prevent panic breaking out if you help me with this," Cornelius begged. "If you can just arrange a meeting between myself and Harry Potter then…?"

"No," Albus firmly and at once, already having guessed that he would request something like this from him and he wasn't going to allow it. "No, Cornelius," he repeated firmly, in a tone that clearly said that this wasn't up for debate. "I will not arrange for a meeting with him. And I hope that you didn't honestly expect me to."

"Dumbledore, please, if you could just speak with the boy on our behalf and persuade him to…?" Cornelius begged but Albus wasn't hearing a word of it.

"After everything that you put him through this year?" he demanded, struggling to keep his temper down. While he had succeeded in keeping his voice calm, he knew that some of his anger was slipping through and Cornelius could clearly feel it, stepping backwards and away from him as if his very life was in danger, "You honestly think that Harry will want anything to do with the Ministry? You have been so blinded by your prejudice and lust for power that you refused to see what was happening right in front of you."

Cornelius was fumbling with his bowler hat in his hands, Albus could see that he was unknowing tearing it to pieces as he tried to make some kind of excuse for his actions.

"The people need something to hope for," Cornelius begged. "They need to look to the Ministry now more than ever before!"

"Then give them a reason to look to you for leadership," Albus informed him. "If you will even be given a second chance, which I highly doubt. And I know what you are going to ask of Harry. You want him to lie to the entire Wizarding World that the Ministry is doing an amazing job. He's just another piece of propaganda in your eyes now. After all that he had to go through this last year, you wish to take advantage of him like this?"

"I'm sure that if you just explain that it was for the greater good of the public…?" Cornelius tried to reason once more, floundering for something he could say to convince him to give in. however, at those two words… 'Greater Good' it felt like a stab wound in his very soul.

"What you did was not for the greater good, Cornelius, as we both well know," he countered firmly.

"He is just fifteen and I'm sure that if we just explain…?" Cornelius began again.

"Harry is still my student. He's not even of age yet. He can't just do your bidding because you want it," Albus interrupted, finding it harder and harder to hold back his anger, and knew that his eyes were blazing now. "Not only that, Harry has a mind of his own. I doubt that anything you can say, be it threats or bribes, will get him to listen. Even if I was willing to allow Harry to speak with you, what makes you think that he will be inclined to listen? You have done nothing but made his life even more difficult than it has been all this year. With all the lies and slander in the papers, as well as putting Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts where she has been torturing my students. I sincerely doubt that you will be getting a different answer from him than you are with me."

Cornelius opened his mouth to speak again but Albus held up his hand to silence him. "If you wish to talk about what we can do in light of the situation, I will be glad to speak to you about it later," he said. "If you wish to talk more for a chance to speak with Harry, then this conversation is over. I believe that it be for the best that you leave now, Cornelius."

Albus did not say anything else to him as he strolled past him, heading to the lone room that had been bolted shut. There was bound to be some tension with the infamous Sirius Black and they would feel better if he was kept locked in his room even if he wasn't able to move.

*3 days later*

Albus had informed Harry that Sirius was still alive, but he wouldn't be allowed to see him for a few more days, despite whatever Albus said to the Healers at St. Mungo's. But he managed to convince the Ministry that he would be allowed to move Sirius to another secure location before he would be given a trial. With all that had happened in the last week, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement seemed ready to do whatever else he asked.

Seeing that relieved and joyful expression on Harry's face was enough to feel as if his own heart was filled with phoenix song. It was hope and he had to smile when he saw Harry sink into a nearby chair for he was too weak to stand at that moment.

Once Sirius had recovered enough, Albus had him moved back to Grimmauld Place where he would be left in peace while he made a full recovery.

Naturally, Sirius was furious at the thought of being back in his old childhood house, but Albus promised him that it would only be temporary. That it was simply safer for him rest here until he would have his trial and be given a chance to prove his innocence. There were still many people out there who believed that Sirius was a murderer and so St. Mungo's may not have been the best place for him to be.

In the end, he managed to convince Sirius to return on one condition.

So it was early that morning that Albus arrived at Grimmauld Place, who was gasping for air after he had travelled with him with side-along apparation.

"Are you alright?" Albus asked as Harry took several lungful's of air.

"I'm fine," Harry said, nodding as he rubbed his ears as if the make sure they were still there, "But I think I prefer brooms."

Albus smiled kindly at him as he quickly pushed him inside the Order's Headquarters. Neither of them said anything as Albus led him up the stairs, looking for Sirius's room. Albus knocked at the door and a few minutes later, it opened to reveal Remus, looking tired and disheveled, like he hadn't slept all night.

"Dumbledore," he said, a faint smile on his face. "We just got him in last night. He wasn't happy about it, and he sure didn't make it easy for us. I had to stay up half the night to make sure that he got some sleep."

"Good," Albus smiled back, glad to hear that some of Sirius's spirit had survived that battle. "Well, I think that it's safe for you to go and get some sleep, Remus."

"What do you…?" Remus began before he looked over his shoulder to see Harry there.

"Harry," he said, sounding glad to see him. "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry answered back as he tried to look passed him and into the room. "But Sirius…?"

"He's seen better days," Remus confessed as he looked over his shoulder and at the person laying in the bed. "But he's also had worse. He's been asking for you."

"Go and get some sleep, Remus," Albus told him kindly. "You look like you're about to collapse any moment."

But they both knew the real reason he wanted Remus to go. To give Harry a few moments alone with Sirius so that they could talk.

"Alright," Remus agreed. "I'll take a quick nap before coming back up. He's got about a dozen different potions he's gotta take. Oh, I am not looking forward to that."

Remus smiled again before he left, stopping only to grip Harry's shoulder in a comforting way before he headed towards the stairs.

"Well, Harry," Albus said as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

"But Professor?" Harry began nervously.

"It's alright, Harry," Albus said kindly to him as Harry drew back, looking anxious, as if he was wondering if he had the right to be here. "Sirius isn't the least bit upset with you. He wishes to see with his own eyes that you are alive and well. Go in and put his mind at ease."

He held the door open for him when Harry hesitated for a second longer. But after about a moment, Harry took a deep breath and walked inside. Albus gave him one last kind smile before he shut the door and quietly left, heading back down the stairs. As he did so, he had a slight surprise to see Remus standing on the next landing and waiting for him.

"Is Harry really alright?" Remus asked him quietly as he approached.

"As well as can be expected," Albus nodded. "I know that he will be feeling responsible for what happened to Sirius. But they are both still alive and that is about as much as we can hope for right now. We must count our blessings where we can, Remus."

"And what are we going to do about the books, Albus?" Remus asked suddenly. "When we got back they were all gone but…?"

"They're destroyed," Albus answered back. "Alastor saw to it. All five of them have been burned to ashes. There is no need to worry about it."

Remus looked startled at the answer but after a moment of thinking it all over, he finally nodded. "Probably for the best," he whispered back before he glanced up at the landing and frowned. "So we are going to tell him all about the books? How we read some of his most private thoughts and darker memories?"

Albus looked grim but nodded.

"You saw for yourself what happened by trying to keep him in the dark," he answered back. "And if we are to help him through the challenges that are waiting for him next, we must try everything we can. This is a good place to start. Besides, like I said, Sirius isn't going to let this go. He will tell him about the books. But for now, we will leave them to talk. I think that is what they need the most right now."

*Harry*

Harry had never been in his godfather's room before, but he barely paid attention to the mess it was in. Not noticing any of the posters or banners that Sirius hung up on the walls in his youth… the only thing that his eyes were focused on was the man who laid half dead in the four-poster bed in front of him.

Sirius was as white as a ghost, the dark shadows underneath his eyes even more pronounced than ever that gave him the impression of a skull, and his arms—most of his left one missing—were lying on top of the blankets. But his eyes cracked open to see who was there. As soon as his gray eyes saw Harry, they widen with surprise before a shadow of a smile appeared. Harry ran to his godfather's side and took hold of his one remaining hand as he looked down at Sirius's wasted, once-handsome face with regret.

"Sirius," he mumbled, and he was sounding choked up.

"Harry…" he gasped back, sounding completely exhausted and his throat just as croaky as it had been that night in the Shrieking Shack when he first thought Sirius was a murderer. "You… alright?"

"Yes, I'm alright, Sirius," Harry repeated, actually starting to shake with a mixture of relief and guilt at hearing Sirius's voice again. "Sirius, I'm so sorry. Really, I'm so, so sorry for being so stupid. I don't know how I could ever make it up to you but I…?"

He was cut off when Sirius let go of his hand and used what little strength he had left to reach up and grab Harry by his arm and pulled him down closer to the bed as he tried to shake his head.

But even that seemed to be too much for him. He winced in pain as he panted and Harry was looking around, wondering if he should get someone.

"No," Sirius gasped, as if guessing what he was thinking. "Don't you dare… don't you dare apologize. What happened… wasn't your fault."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's my fault," Harry said, taking the chair that Remus had abandoned earlier as he kept watch over Sirius's bedside. "I was the one who was stupid enough to think that you were being held hostage by Voldemort! I was the one who wanted to go there and walked right into a trap!"

"Yes, but you didn't know it was a trap," Sirius reminded him, his voice heavy. "We never… never told you what would happen. Left you… to stumble around in the dark… all on your own. Of course you… never knew what could happen… don't you dare… blame yourself."

But Harry was still upset as he looked to Sirius's left arm, which had been destroyed just past his elbow and looked away, tears actually forming in his eyes.

"Don't you worry, it's just an arm," Sirius told him firmly, his voice a little stronger and less winded at that moment. "I got another one. I'll live. It could have been worse. I could have fallen through the veil."

"What did that veil do to you?" Harry asked in a hushed tone.

"Not sure I understand myself. Think of it… as the passageway between life and death," Sirius explained slowly, "You step over a border into a new world. But it's usually a one-way trip. Going through it means you die. My arm went through and that's why I lost it. Not sure how that works, but I call it a fair exchange. My arm for my life. At least it wasn't my wand arm…. I couldn't see how I was going to be able to fight nearly as well without it."

"Sirius, I'm so…" Harry began again but Sirius was shaking his head.

"No, don't say it," he said firmly. "If there's anyone where who should be apologizing, it should be me."

"Apologize? Apologize for what?" Harry asked, completely taken aback. Why would he feel like he needed to apologize?

"Under the bed," Sirius said, pointing down. "There's something that you need to see."

Harry raised his eyebrows in confusion before he got down on his knees and looked underneath to see what he was talking about. There was nothing there other than a thick book, which caught Harry's attention.

"A book?" he asked as he pulled it out, his arm getting coated in dust in the process.

"Been reading it for the last couple weeks," Sirius confessed, careful not to look at his godson's expression.

Harry wiped the dust off until he got a good look at what the title said.

"Harry Potter… and the Prisoner of Azkaban?" he gasped as he stared at his own face on the cover and looked up as Sirius gave a dark smirk.

"Mad-Eye destroyed them all but this one," he explained. "I replaced it with a fake and hid it because I wanted to talk to you about it. Why don't you go to the chapter that talks about how you won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor? Easily one of my favorite chapters."

"You mean this book… is about me?" Harry whispered, flabbergasted at what he was holding in his hand, actually shaking a little as he got back to his feet.

"Read that chapter out for me," Sirius repeated as he stared at the ceiling. "You'll see."

Harry blinked but did what he was told and found the right chapter. He began to read it out, his eyes growing increasingly wider with shock the more that he read. Seeing his expression convinced Sirius once and for all that these books were the real deal. They showed everything about him… everything.

When Harry reached the part where Lee Jordan was swearing at Malfoy for grabbing onto Harry's broom to stop him from grabbing the Snitch, he slammed the book shut and stared at him. "And this covers my entire third year?" he gasped out.

"Yeah," Sirius said dully as he looked back to the ceiling. "The first few chapters talked about your life with the Dursleys. Not a pleasant way to start off in a book."

"And you said that there were others?!" Harry gasped out as Sirius nodded.

"Mad-Eye burned those though," he answered. "Felt it was for the best. But I couldn't bring myself to have this one destroyed. I wanted to read over a few parts again."

Harry's face grew red, though he wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment as he demanded, "Is the entire book like this? Are all the books like this? Did you read them? How many were there?"

"Five of them in all," Sirius confessed. "Covering each of your years at Hogwarts. And… yes we did read them. Didn't finish the fifth one though." That was when he remembered something and grabbed Harry's right hand again and held it up so that he could see it. Harry was so shocked over what he had just been told that he didn't realize what Sirius was doing until too late.

Sirius had seen the words carved into his skin… "I must not tell lies…"

In a panic, Harry wrenched his hand away from him, but the damage had been done.

"Where did you get these?" Harry demanded hotly, refusing to change the subject as he went back to the books.

"Remus found the first four," Sirius confessed calmly as his eyes were filled with a new sadness when he saw those scars on his hand. "Found them at Hogwarts. Mad-Eye went back later on and found the fifth."

"And you… what… read all of them?" Harry asked, gulping anxiously.

"Never read the ending of the fifth one," Sirius grinned. "And with it now gone, never gonna know how it ends. Oh well."

"Just you?" Harry asked anxiously.

"No," Sirius answered. "Remus was here. Mad-Eye as well. Bill and Fleur… Kingsley… along with Tonks… Molly and Arthur… and a couple of your teachers…?"

"Who?" Harry asked, his mouth going very dry.

"Dumbledore was for most of it until he went on the run," Sirius answered. "Minerva was here too for most of it. And Snape."

"SNAPE?!" Harry gasped out as he opened the book and started to go through pages at random. Sirius didn't say anything as he watched him go through them, but the more that he read, the more upset he seemed to grow until he slammed the book shut a second time.

"Why?" he asked desperately. "Those memories were private!"

"I know, and I feel rotten for reading them," Sirius admitted, feeling worse with every passing moment. "Like I read someone else journal or something. But you don't talk to us about what's wrong. At the time he wanted to see if there was a way that we could help you."

"By reading my life story without me even knowing about it?!" Harry demanded. "Why didn't you think to ask me? I don't understand… how did this happen?"

"Remus said that he found them in the Room of Requirements," Sirius answered simply. "He was looking around and there they were. I know that what we did was terrible, especially without asking you for your permission. But… I'm grateful for it."

"Grateful?!" Harry demanded, starting to get real red in the face.

"If I hadn't, then I wouldn't be here," Sirius told him and that was enough to stop Harry's anger.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked as Sirius tried to sit up, but was still too weak to do so.

"We were nearing the end of your fifth year at school," he explained. "And that was when we read about your vision that Voldemort planted into your head."

"That was in there too?" Harry asked immediately.

"Yeah, I can see why you thought it was real," Sirius nodded truthfully. "But the point I'm making is that in the book I died by falling through the veil completely. I remembered that part when we went running after you all. When I was dueling Bellatrix this time around, I was able to avoid falling through that blasted archway somehow though it cost me. If I didn't know that I was in danger of that, I really would have died. Sure, it cost me an arm, but I'm still here. So while I know that it's a huge invasion of privacy and all that… your story was what saved me in the end?"

Harry stared down at him before he rested his head against the bed, his hands gripping his hair, unsure of what to think at the moment. His face was red with embarrassment but he was also filled with guilt and relief.

Just then, he felt Sirius's clammy hand on the top of his head and Harry looked up to see the kind look in his godfather's face.

"Don't blame yourself for this," he told him firmly. "I refuse to hear it. If we hadn't been such idiots and warned you that something like this would happen, then you never would have gone to the Department of Mysteries. We all knew this could happen, were well aware of it, and still we didn't tell you because we thought that you couldn't handle it. Looking back now, I see just what idiots we all were. While I'm touched that you would go through so much for me, I want you to know that I'm not worth it. Don't you dare think that my life is worth more than yours."

Harry stared down at him as Sirius held out his claw-like hand for him to take and Harry did.

"I'm sorry," Sirius whispered quietly to him. "If there's anyone here who should be saying that, it's me. I'm the one who is responsible for all of this. If I hadn't trusted Wormtail, none of it ever would have happened. Voldemort never would have found your mother and father… he never would have made you an orphan… and you would never have had to go live with those sorry excuses for human beings that dare call themselves family. That fault lies with me."

"No, it's not!" Harry gasped out desperately, letting the book fall to the floor. "You didn't know what Wormtail was going to do!"

"I should have seen it coming," Sirius said firmly. "Looking back on it now, it was so obvious from the start how he would turn out. He had it written in ugly black letters… after all… he is the rat. How could I have been so blind?"

"But it was Wormtail who made the choice," Harry said firmly, refusing to let Sirius torment himself over this. "You did what you thought was best to keep my family safe. He was the one who sold them out. I know that you never would have done that."

"It doesn't change the fact that I was the one who insisted that James and Lily switch to Peter," Sirius countered, sounding angry now. "I should have…"

"Stop it," Harry snapped, starting to get angry again. "I don't blame you for that! It's Wormtail who did it! Him and Voldemort! None of it ever would have happened if it hadn't been for him. So please, don't say that it's your fault."

Sirius looked at him, seeing how watery his godson's eyes had become and he gave him a shaky smile and tightened his hold on Harry's hand. Those words meant so much to him and he did feel a little lighter for it. But the fact was, he knew that he was never going to stop blaming himself for what happened to Lily and James. Whatever Harry said or thought of him, he knew that he had to bear that burden.

That was when he remembered something.

"I got something for you though," he said as he looked to the bedside table and told Harry to go around to it and open it up.

Harry blinked in confusion as he did what he was told and went around to see what it was that he wanted to show him. Inside the drawer was a photograph of himself as a baby, laughing as he rode a toy broomstick. His father was chasing after him while his mother watched the pair and laughed.

"That was taken just after your first birthday," Sirius told him quietly as Harry fell silent. "Lily wrote to tell me about it. She was nice about it in the letter but after a couple days she was about ready to kill me for getting you that broomstick because they couldn't catch you when you got on. I mean, it only went about 2 feet off the ground, but you were tricky to catch. James just laughed though… kept saying that you were going to be a Quidditch star when you were older. Looks like he was right, wasn't he?"

Harry just stared at it, unable to speak, but Sirius understood.

"I won't let you down again," Sirius promised him softly. "I know that you're probably too old for me to protect you… especially since you seem to be doing a good job of doing that on your own. But I want things to change."

"Change? Change how?" Harry asked in worry as he finally looked up.

"After reading those books, I realized that I do see you a little too much as James," he confessed softly. "I realize that now. I suppose it was easier for me to forget about Azkaban that way." Harry finally looked back at him as Sirius confessed, "I don't want to be like Snape. How he just looks at you and sees James. It's because he hates me and James that he takes it all out on you. I want to be a better parent figure to you. Though… I don't know how. I'm rubbish at it. You know… when your parents asked me to be godfather, I thought that they were Confunded or something."

"Why?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Because if you knew what I was like when I was young, then you would understand," he answered him with his mouth twitching a little. "But… you did see a clue to that when you went poking around in Snape's memory. Not my finest moment."

"I get it, you were young and an idiot," Harry said, repeating what Sirius had said about himself. "I mean, I don't like it. Because I was bullied when I was younger…?"

"I know," Sirius interrupted.

"How do you…?" Harry began before his eyes went to the book and sighed. "How much about my past do you know?"

"More than I would like to," Sirius sighed bitterly. "Had I known how you were being treated before, I would have broken out of that hellhole a lot sooner."

"Sirius," Harry said firmly as he went back to his seat, his hand still holding onto the picture though.

"I want us to try and start over again," Sirius said as he shut his eyes. "I want to be a better parent to you because I know that was what you really wanted from me, but up until now, I wasn't able to give that to you because I don't know how to be a parent. I thought that it would be a lot easier than that. When your parents asked me to be your godfather, I was just supposed to be the fun guy in your life. The cool parent-figure that says yes when your parents say no. If you needed advice or help, I'd give it to you and then dump the final decision onto your parents. It's another thing when you have to step up and actually do it… and another thing completely different when you're asked to be a parent after being locked up in prison for years only to get out and find out that your godson is a teenager who had a difficult life."

"Sirius," Harry said, not sure of what he could say to that.

"Dumbledore managed to get me that trial," Sirius informed him as he opened his eyes again. "I was brought back here just to make sure that I was given a chance to recover in peace. But once I am, I'm going to get that trial and get my name cleared. Dumbledore promised that he would help. Pulling out all the stops. Like with Veritaserum and everything. I will be getting my name cleared. Once it is, I want you to come and live with me."

Harry stared at him, unable to believe it as Sirius added, "Dumbledore wanted you to stay with the Dursleys at least at the beginning of the summer, but I intend to talk him out of it. The only question now is… do you want to come live with me?"

"Of course I do!" Harry said firmly. "I've been wanting to ever since you first asked me!"

Sirius looked at him again and he found his smile again. "I also wanted to apologize for another thing… when I said that you were less like your father than I thought," he reminded him of how he lost his temper at him. Harry didn't say a word but he merely held onto Sirius's hand extra tightly as he allowed tears to fall.

"You're right though. I'm not my dad," Harry said exhaustedly as he rested his head on the bed.

Sirius observed him for a time as he felt himself also growing increasingly tired. He knew that things may never be ok… they were both walking messes. But he had something worth living for. And despite everything, his godson turned out to be an amazing person that he couldn't have been more proud of. He was sure that Lily and James would be too if they were here.

But until the day that his godson would have a brighter future, he would keep fighting. He would make Lily and James proud… so that when he did finally join them on the other side, he could tell them that he had done everything he could.

"You're right… you aren't James," he said softly with a smile as he looked at his godson's face. He reached over and gently touched the top of Harry's head again, as if he just needed confirmation that he was alive. "You're Harry. Harry Potter. And I don't want you any other way."

 **And it's officially over. This was the ending I had planned out. I was constantly going back and forth between letting the books play out as they should, or do something about it. That was when I realized I did want to see Sirius survive. But I felt that I had to give something in exchange, and his arm felt like a fair trade. I had also played around with the idea of doing another series of having the Hogwarts teachers reading the last two books on their own… but it doesn't look like that will ever happen.**


End file.
